Star Wars: The Smuggler Purges
by Scouse
Summary: Set before the New Jedi Order in the years that Kyp Durron and his squadron (the Dozen and 2 Avengers) go on their quest to rid the galaxy of the smugglers and the slave trade. Kyp Durron, Miko Reglia, OCs, mention of other star wars characters.
1. Chapter 1: Targets

Woohoo! This is my first ever fanfic so if it's really really bad please don't shoot me! If anyone has any ideas, suggestions or criticism please, please tell me and i'll try my best to make it better! Thanks! Oh and before i forget i don't own or have any rights to any of the star wars characters/places/etc (wish i did but..) they all belong to George Lucas (genius man!) except for my own characters!

Gem.

Chapter 1: Targets.

The cantina was full of noise and movement as Kyp Durron forced his way in followed closely by a member of his squadron, the Dozen-and-Two Avengers. Miko Reglia flanked Kyp as they drew near to a table in a dark quiet corner. Kyp sat and kicked his feet to rest on the tabletop. He nodded to a female Rutanian who disappeared towards the bar to get them a round of drinks. Kyp took a deep breath and surveyed the cantina. Many species were packed into that relatively small bar and the air was hot and pungent.

"What did our source say about the target?" Kyp asked in a low voice and Miko leaned back in his chair. He reached a hand into his dark blue jumpsuit pocket and retrieved a data chip. He tossed it to Kyp who plugged it into his data pad.

"Father and son operation. Mid-sized freighter with a crew of one female Twi'lekk, one female human, a female Wookiee, two male humans and a male Toydarian." Miko said as the Rutanian returned and handed out the drinks and returned to her job.

"A rather large crew for such a small freighter." Kyp observed looking over the ship's schematics. "The _Wild Ride._ Why do I recognise that name?"

Miko shrugged and took a sip of the green drink before him.

"I'm not surprised you've heard it before. Caith Freelancer and his son Calleth are the most notorious slave traders in the Outer Rim, if not the galaxy!"

-ooooo-

The girl moved through the crowd of people within the bar named the _Severed Head_ without truly being noticed. She had a knack for that kind of thing. When she didn't want to be seen she wasn't and when she did she was a commanding presence. She moved to the bar and pulled down her hood revealing a shock of dark blond hair that had been roughly woven into masses of tiny plaits that covered her whole head. She beckoned for the large Gamorean bartender who stood cleaning a mug with a rather grimy looking rag.

"Do you have them?" she asked, removing her cape and placing it upon the filthy bar top. She wore a tight vest-like top that hugged her slender figure and showed her bare waist and a short dark blue skirt that sported a split running up her left thigh stopping an inch or so below the belt that she wore on her hips. The Gamorean growled something in Huttese and the girl leaned on the bar top, ignoring her skirt's lack of length and the roving eyes of the customers, and placed a firm hand on the bartender's shoulder.

"You said you'd have them tonight!"

Again the pig-like being grunted a reply but this time his voice quivered and he pulled back from her firm grip.

"Listen, Rant. We have other suppliers you know, and if you fail to come up with some…merchandise pronto..." she allowed her voice to drift off ominously, no doubt conjuring up many outcomes in the bartender's mind. He snorted in what sounded like an offensive comment but the girl knew that it was an apology.

"That's more like it. Caith will expect you within the next hour. You'll get your payment then. Guaranteed."

Rant turned and motioned for the girl to follow into the back of the cantina. She leapt lightly over the bar again regardless of her attire and took one final look around the room before disappearing.

-ooooo-

"Heads up, Boss." Miko hissed snapping his head towards the bar and a new arrival.

Kyp watched as she removed her hood to reveal a pretty young face of a human girl barely out of her teens. Then as she removed the rest of her cape to reveal her striking, scantily clad body.

"She matches our description." Miko said with a hint of pained regret in his voice. "Shame though. She's rather cute. Looks like a _whole_ lot of fun!"

He grinned and Kyp gave a small shake of his head.

The girl bounded over the bar counter and into a room out of sight of Kyp and Miko.

"Ready to dance?" Kyp asked and Miko grinned again at his master's use of vocabulary for setting their plan in motion.

"I thought you'd never ask!"

Miko disappeared back towards the main exit and was no doubt dashing around to the back door to cut their quarry off. Kyp headed for the room in which the girl and bartender where now and thankfully no one challenged him. He slipped into the room quietly and with no trouble and surveyed his surroundings. A storeroom of some kind. An empty storeroom.

"_Sithspit_!" Kyp thought furiously and sent a warning signal through the force to Miko. Where had they gone? Suddenly the noise of hushed voices reached his ears and he strained to understand what was being said.

"Docking bay nineteen. Tonight. Caith expects them. All of them!"

The Gamorean snorted a reply.

"Yes, all twenty seven of them!" the girl gave an irate snarl.

The Gamorean continued to rumble his worries and the girl gave an impatient hiss.

"I don't care who the shipment belongs to! You said you'd get them without any trouble. Covering your tracks is your problem, not mine or Caith's!"

The pig like being gave a howl.

"Stow it!" the girl spat vehemently. "I don't care if all the Hutt crime lords from Tatooine to Nal Hutta will come after you! We want that shipment! And Caith doesn't like to be disappointed! Now," she paused for dramatic effect. "Are we still on? Or do we have to look to other more competent beings to get the cargo?!"

A groan sounded as the Gamorean bartender rumbled his affirmation and then the hissing noise of the girl silencing him. Kyp forced himself down behind a large metallic barrel that was twice the height of a human and five times as wide. He heard the grating metal of a hatch being pulled open and then a dim orange light splashed out onto the wall to his left. The silhouette of the girl dominated the wall. She rested her hands on her belt and strode out cautiously into the storeroom. The Gamorean snorted a question and the girl silenced him again with a movement of her hand. After a long moment that seemed to stretch for hours she spoke again.

"Don't forget, Rant. Tonight! Then you'll get the payment in full and in cash." She strode past Kyp's hiding place and back into the bar followed by the bartender, Rant. Kyp stood and silently forced his way from behind the barrel and turned to search the hidden room. It contained a few data cards that Kyp copied and returned to their place so as not to invoke suspicion. He scrolled through and skimmed the information. A smile crept onto his face as he read through the contract, which had been drawn up by the Gamorean bartender and the girl. He replaced his data pad into his pocket and slipped out of the secret room and out into the bar. Luckily the bartender was busy with an unsatisfied customer and Kyp glided out of the cantina in time to see the mysterious girl slip around a corner. He pelted after her using the force to muffle the sounds of his footfalls. He turned into the ally-way to see her shimmy over a twisted and rusting fence dividing the ally-ways into separate quadrants. She was fast, he had to admit and he didn't want to loose her. However, something held him back. Kyp drew his cape about him and moved into the shadows so that he could not be seen by the naked eye.

Suddenly a slash of grey caught his eye. The being moved with the stealth of a Noghri and the speed of a nexu. It was something he had never seen before. The grey slash slowed and turned into a cloaked being, hunched and feline-like almost as it perched atop the fence, gripping the edge with a three fingered and clawed hand with tough almost orange skin. Suddenly the being was again just a grey slash and moving silently after Kyp's quarry, leaving the unstable fence swaying slightly.

Suddenly Kyp was in motion following after the two beings for no reason other than an urgency he felt through the force that told him something was going to happen. Something terrible. Something like _murder_!

-ooooo-

_Woo! _First chapter done! Hope it's not too bad!


	2. Chapter 2: Rescue

Yay, the next chapter! sorry they're a bit short. I re-read the first one and realised how bad it was so i will hopefully be updating it as soon as i can! Oh yeah i forgot to mention that i don't own any of the star wars characters/places/etc (wish i did!) but credit for that goes the the genius George Lucas and the writers of the star wars novels. I do however own my characters! Thanks!

Gem

Chapter 2: Rescue.

She knew that she was being tracked. Her father had trained her to be wary of anyone and everyone and tonight her wariness was justified! Not that that was a good thing for her! She was being followed by two. One she had seen in the cantina, lurking in the shadows with another human male. The other was not human and was gaining on her with immense speed. The latter of the two was the one that she was worried about. She was in deep Bantha dung if she didn't do something and do it fast!

_'Alright, Cam!'_ a cold little voice said with delight inside her head as she spared a quick glance over her shoulder. _'Get yourself out of _this_ one!'_

She leaped high at and caught hold of the top of a duracrete wall shifting her weight and swinging first one leg up and then pulling herself up. She leaped again and came down with a thud taking a layer of skin from her hands and knees and cursing in Huttese. She pulled herself back to her feet with an effort and continued to run as fast as her aching lungs would allow. The night streamed past in flashes and Cam was suddenly aware of a grey flash that was keeping pace with her in the next ally-way along that ran parallel with hers. She stopped and traversed making a run in the other direction but the grey slash landed in her path. Only then was she able to see the yellow tinged eyes gleaming from underneath the silver hood in the moonlight. Two long horn-like protrusions thrust themselves from beneath the shadowy shroud and Cam was suddenly immobilised by a deep fear in her gut. The blood in her veins turned to ice. She stumbled backwards and fell landing sprawling on her back.

The grey flash laughed a deep, melodious, sinister laugh.

"Do you know who I am, Camilly my dear?" it asked in a purring voice.

He sniggered from the shocked look on her features. "Yes that's right! I know who you really are. You covered your trail well, I'll be the first to admit, but it was inevitable that you would be found sooner or later."

Cam shook her head, as if unable to comprehend what was happening, and clutched the vibro-blade that she always carried strapped to her back underneath her cloak and shirt. She clutched it so hard that her knuckles shone white and her nails dug hard into her palm drawing more blood from the broken skin. The grey ghost laughed again and took a step forwards.

"I am afraid, Camilly, that I am the bearer of ill tidings. I am your Angel of Death, Camilly, and you and your little '_family_' have evade your death sentence for quite long enough, don't you think?" he reached down a three fingered hand and grabbed her wrist. Sharp claws as long a Cam's forefinger dug into her wrist and caused her to breathe in sharply.

Suddenly, a snap-hiss filled the night's calm air and Cam's attacker glanced to his right to investigate. Cam saw her chance and slashed out with her vibro-blade catching the being across the chest. He let out a howl of rage more than pain and Cam struggled free of her cloak, scrambling backwards on her elbows. The attacker came after her again but another figure stood in his path. The figure was the other one who had been following Cam and he held a burning shaft of purple light in his hands. Cam closed and rubbed her eyes but when she opened them again he was still there. She watched as the grey figure backed away, slowly at first, and then turned into his wild gallop over the roofs and out of her sight. She flopped off her elbows to lie flat on her back and gazed up at the stars as they winked like diamonds from the velvety blackness with splashes of grey cloud scudding across them. Cam shuddered at the thought of that colour! It brought back images of the grey attacker.

"Are you okay?"

Cam opened her eyes that she hadn't realised had been shut and stared up into a face. The face seemed to float a good six-foot above her edged with slight concern. She found this amusing and would have laughed if not for her burning lungs that screamed through lack of oxygen. She offered him a weak half smile instead and propped herself up on her elbows. He crouched down and rested his elbows on his knees and stared at her half quizzically and half warily.

"Thanks." She breathed pulling herself to sit cross-legged and attempting to tug her skirt so that she was half decent. "You saved my skin."

"You were in danger. I had to help you. It's my oath." He replied in a cool tone.

She grinned.

"What are you? A Jedi or something?"

He returned her grin.

"Something like that."

Cam nodded and held her hand out firmly. Kyp took it and shook hands.

"Camilly Freelancer." She said with a bold grin. Kyp sensed that something was amiss but nodded instead and pushed the twinge aside. She was Caith Freelancer's only daughter, his deal negotiator and, according to Kyp's information a stunning gunner with deadly aim.

Kyp was brought out of his own thoughts by the girl's expectant gaze.

"Erm, yeah. Kyp. Kyp Durron. Nice to save you." He said and Cam smiled at his jibe at her.

"So why the hell are you following me?"

The young, dark haired and somewhat alluring Kyp Durron gave a thin smile and pulled out his data pad and a data chip.

"I know who you work for." He said and Cam raised her eyebrows and stared at him waiting for a further answer. "And I know what it is you are doing!"

When she received no further explanation she replied.

"That's it?"

He gave her an unsure look suddenly realising how weak his answer had sounded and nodded.

"You _followed_ me because 'you know who I work for'?" Cam burst into an infuriating laughter that made Kyp both angry and suddenly captivated with her. He stood and dusted his tunic off in a self-defensive manner. "Listen, Sparky, its not like it's a big secret that I work for my Dad. Is that why you were watching me in the cantina?"

"You saw me in the cantina?!" Kyp asked, a little ruffled that she had spotted him when he had thought he was being stealthy.

Cam nodded.

"Yeah, you were with that other guy in the pilot's jumpsuit. Yeah, I saw you. My Da' was a bounty hunter when he was younger! Taught me well, you know! So what's so important about who I work for?"

Kyp shook his head too astonished with her openness to discuss her father and their line of work. Something wasn't adding up and he couldn't for the life of him work it out. Kyp was brought back to the present by Cam's movement. She chattered away as if she'd known Kyp for her entire life. It was refreshing to be around someone so open. She was like an icy sea breeze after the heat of the desert sun. She certainly didn't seem the type to deal in the slave trade, yet Kyp reminded himself that appearances could be exceedingly deceiving!

" . . . Tolou is going to have Bantha cubs if I don't get back soon. You here for long?" She paused and looked at Kyp.

"Not really. Just tonight while I wrap up some…business." He said feeling inexplicably nervous.

Cam cocked her head to one side and placed her hands on her hips.

"No way. Too bad. I would have shown you around the place a bit. It's not all scum and ruffians, you know? I could've shown you a good time!" she gave a fluting laugh. "We ship out tomorrow and I've got some more…ah, errands to run for my Dad tonight." She paused again and her eyes glazed over slightly. "I guess this is where we go our separate ways then. But maybe we'll meet again. You never know. Sometimes the briefest meetings end up being..." she paused, not finishing her sentence and blushed glancing at the floor as if she had imagined something concerning them both, some future possibility. "Well, thanks again and it was nice to meet you Kyp Durron. If you ever end up in the Outer Rim again in search of a good time look me up, yeah?"

"Yeah." Kyp replied, slightly dazed, and shook Camilly's hand once more before she took off at a run again. Kyp felt slightly bewildered and more than a little confused. He'd just had the daughter of one of the most wanted smugglers and slave traders in the galaxy in his grasp but he'd let her go because he'd been, what? Shocked? Nervous? _Attracted_ to her? Well, what ever he'd been he had just lost the best chance he had ever had at catching the notorious Freelancers. Cam had almost been handed to him on a silver platter and she'd been willing to meet him again!

Still shaking his head and running his conversation with Camilly Freelancer over and over in his mind, Kyp wandered back to his assigned docking bay and the rest of the Dozen and Two Avengers.

"You alright Boss?" Miko said from his perch on the canopy of his X-Wing where he sat polishing the transparasteel. Kyp ignored him and threw himself forcefully into the seat of his own fighter.

Why had she been so open about Freelancer being her father?

"Kyp?" Miko popped his head over the lip of the X-Wings cockpit and rested his elbows on it. "Bad night? Our girl show you a rough time?"

"I'm just a little confused that's all." Kyp replied placing his copied data chip into his on-board computer and scrolled through the data. It was all there! The quantity of slaves, the price for each head, two thousand credits extra for the seven young adult males. Even the written agreement from Rant the Bartender stating his sworn secrecy!

Miko pretended to be reading over his shoulder but Kyp knew that he was trying to decipher what was wrong through the force. Kyp blocked himself off from his apprentice, locking up his feelings and giving Miko the signal that if he wanted to talk about it he would do so of his own accord.

"Alright, man! I was only concerned!" Miko huffed hopping down from the X-Wing and Kyp sighed.

He was just frustrated. He shouldn't be taking it out on Miko just because he'd failed to take Freelancer into custody!

"Miko! Come back!" he called reluctantly and his apprentice's face appeared within seconds wearing a wide and mischievous grin.

"C'mon, Boss! Spill the gory details!"

Miko really knew Kyp too well!

-ooooo-

Yay another chapter finished! Any comments or criticism would be gratefully received!


	3. Chapter 3: Two Jedi in One Night?

Again sorry that this is so short! I should be writing some longer chapters when my dissertation is finished!

Gem

Chapter 3: Two Jedi in one night? What are the odds?!

Cam heaved a sigh of relief as she finally reached docking bay nineteen and the _Wild Ride_. The familiar lights winked and she found herself running as fast as she could towards it. The ship had a sleek chrome surface, which looked like one massive mirror giving away that it was a Nubian freighter. It's slick surface swooped and curved gracefully to create a work of art in itself but the most startlingly beautiful thing about the horizontal tear drop shaped ship was the wings which stretched out like a bird's and shone in the same chrome but were tinged with all of the colours of the human spectrum. Cam slowed as she came to the bottom of the ramp. That was odd! Her father was always careful about locking his ship up tight. She drew her blaster and crept inside moving slowly so that she made no sound. She paused outside the cockpit and pressed her ear up against the cold metal of the door. A familiar, low, purring voice floated to her through the door that made Cam's skin crawl and her blood run cold. She held her breath and stood trembling in her spot.

" . . . Yes. Droga wants all of you alive unfortunately. I am afraid I gave your dear daughter quite a scare back there. I do believe she thought that I was going to kill her!" a cold laugh followed and then he continued to talk. "We'll just wait for her to come waltzing in here and then off we go back to Nal Hutta! Isn't that nice? The place where your wife died!"

Cam tasted bile and fought back the urge to retch. Nal Hutta. She wished the place would just detonate! She doubled over and forced her eyes closed so tightly that a headache pounded behind her eyes. She closed them so tightly that bright dots danced in the blackness of her eyelids.

She couldn't do anything! Her family would be transported back into the clutches of Droga the Hutt and they would die! Her eyes snapped open at that thought. No, she wouldn't go back to Nal Hutta! She couldn't!

A deep routed emotion stirred inside her chest and she tossed off her cape and set her blaster to kill. She'd have this out now! No more looking over her shoulder, no more fearing to turn the next corner! Cam took a deep breath and drew her vibro-blade, turning it on and grasping it tightly in her left hand like a small dagger. She kicked out at the button to open the door and it slid open causing the occupants of the cockpit to whirl around stare at her. She held her blaster aimed directly at the hooded figures head as she hastily took in the scene. Her father sat with vibro-cuffs around his wrists and ankles while her brother was chained to the co-pilot's seat. On the floor, merely stunned she hoped, where the bodies of the female Wookiee, female Twi'lekk and the male Toydarian that constituted her father's crew.

She frowned, feeling the anger and concern swell within her and pressed the muzzle of her blaster hard against her tormentor's cloth covered skull.

"Alright, Sith-Face! Move and I get to paint this cockpit with your brains!"

-ooooo-

"Shut up!" Kyp growled again and again Miko dissolved into laughter.

"Admit it! You were taken with her!"

"Did I just say 'Shut up'? I think I did! So do it already!"

Miko sniggered as they turned to enter the docking bay that Cam had told Rant that the _Wild Ride_ was harboured in but his laughter died on his lips at the sight that greeted them. Both Jedi reached for their lightsabres.

Camilly Freelancer sprawled on her stomach and spat a mouthful of blood onto the metallic ground. She ran the back of her hand over her chin streaking the blood further across her face before pulling herself, with great effort, to her feet. She swayed slightly as she turned to face her opponent with a courage that was foolish but no less inspiring.

"Sith, that's the being I was telling you about!" Kyp hissed as the cloaked creature moved closer to Cam.

Miko unclipped his lightsabre and made to step forwards, but when Kyp made no move to follow him he turned a questioning gaze upon his master.

"You're not going to help her?" he asked incredulously.

"She's a slave trader!" Kyp growled, though Miko could feel that his emotions where in turmoil. "Probably this being wants to bring her to justice like we do!"

Miko turned to watch as the grey hooded alien caught a punch that Cam swung at him and plunged his claws deep into her shoulder. Her cry of pain was enough to bring tears to Miko's eye and echoed about the docking bay. Miko glanced back at Kyp with anger in his face.

"Then why did you save her before?!" he hissed dangerously. Again Kyp didn't move or speak and Miko growled. "Slave trader or not, no one deserves such a brutal handling!"

He turned and ignited his lightsabre, a shining green shaft of pure light that hummed slightly as he moved swiftly towards the girl and her attacker. His master was so full of the fierce conviction that all smugglers needed to be stopped. Whether that meant imprisoning them or killing them didn't matter and Miko had a niggling fear in the back of his conscience that this was all vaguely nearing Darkside status. He had pushed that thought down each time it surfaced but it was still there and wouldn't leave. He didn't dare let it become more than a niggling at the back of his awareness though, because if he did it would throw doubt upon Kyp and Kyp's spirit was so full of passion about this that Miko didn't have the heart to take it away from him. Sure, he knew that this also brought _him_ perilously close to the boundaries of light but he simply _couldn't_ break Kyp's resolve. However, this time Miko couldn't stand by and watch. He couldn't watch her die something in the Force told him it was his time to make a move and he acted on his impulses. Surely Kyp couldn't stand by and watch such atrocity take place. Miko heard the snap-hiss of Kyp's blade a nanosecond after his own and gave a mental sigh of relief. It seemed his master's conscience had gotten the better of him this time.

Miko focused his attention back onto the struggling forms before him, the girl, Cam, now forced to the ground clutching her shoulder. The shadowy figure turned to see the two Jedi lunging towards him and Cam took her chance, plunging her vibro-blade deep into the alien's booted foot. A screech of agony resounded around the hangar as the cloaked alien back-handed Cam across her face sending her sprawling once again, spluttering more blood onto the metal ground.

"You filthy little piece of Hutt fodder! You're worth less than the scum that owns you!" he howled and Cam cowered before him expecting the final death blow. However, her hunter turned and fled back into the _Wild Ride_ as Miko neared. "I have you're little family, Freelancer and if you want them you'll come to Nal Hutta!"

"You only want that to save yourself the trouble of catching me!" she yelled back, struggling to her feet. Miko reached her and tossed his lightsabre to the ground to take her in his arms and stop her from falling or going after the alien.

The being laughed. "Perhaps. You shall never know unless you come. And if you don't…" he paused dramatically and flourished his clawed, three fingered hand before him. "…they will die!"

Cam struggled against Miko as the ramp of her father's ship lifted and the hatched closed, blocking the chilling laughter from her ears. Slowly the ship powered up and lifted off, causing both Miko and Cam to duck out of its path. She struggled fiercely in his grasp until the ship was out of sight, only then did she allow him to hold her close and herself to sob onto his shoulder.

"Hey, it's okay." Miko soothed rubbing her back to pacify the sobs that shook her frame. "We'll get them back!"

Cam looked up and into his dark eyes. "I don't even know who you are." She stated but didn't pull from his embrace. She put her head back onto his chest and allowed him to continue to sooth her with his voice and hands that made long even strokes up and down her back.

"I'm a Jedi." He replied and Cam gave a small, humourless laugh.

"Wow. Two Jedi in one night! What are the odds?"

-ooooo-

Kyp had stopped mid-pelt as Miko had reached Cam's side first and pulled her into his arms. Kyp deactivated his lightsabre and remained silent as he observed the exchange of words between Cam and her attacker. There was no doubt that he was a bounty hunter, and a good one by the looks of him and the way he made Cam shake in fear.

The ship lifted off seconds later and Kyp turned to watch it disappear into the upper reaches of the atmosphere and then escape into the cold clutches of space. Kyp didn't know who had been on board the ship, probably Cam's father and brother and the rest of her crew. He sighed and was about to ask if she knew where they were being taken to, but he stopped short when he heard Miko talking in low soothing tones. He turned back and cast his gaze warily over his apprentice as he comforted Camilly Freelancer.

An emotion so foreign to Kyp stirred deep within him and it took a good few moments for him to place it. Jealousy.

_That should be you there. Comforting her. _A small cold voice said in his head. _You _want _to be there! Miko hasn't even met her before! It should be your arms she's in not his!_

Kyp brushed those thoughts from his head yet the deep feeling of envy was harder to shake.

"Wow." He heard her mutter, drawing his attention directly back to her. "Two Jedi in one night! What are the odds?"

Kyp leapt at the chance to intervene and insert himself back into her knowledge. He cleared his throat causing both Cam and Miko to look up at him and realise that he was there.

"The odds are quite high, actually, considering the increasing number of force-sensitives being trained now-a-days." Kyp replied to her rhetorical question, hoping that his comment would bring some much needed levity to the dark, oppressive hangar and her attention from Miko onto him.

For a split second Cam's mouth twitched at the corner into a small smirk of amusement and recognition of him. Then she pulled back from Miko's protective embrace and looked down at herself. Her left shoulder was divided by three seven inch long and half inch wide lacerations that continued to bleed down her tanned arm and she stood favouring her right leg, its ankle having already swollen to twice its normal size. Smaller cuts and bruises peppered her body and her lower lip sported a central, vertical split that had opened from the last blow that the bounty hunter had dealt her.

"I'm a bit of a mess." She observed with a grim laugh. "I need some bacta patches or something."

She looked to Miko and Kyp again felt a pang of jealousy though he stamped it down quickly.

"Can a couple of Jedi help me out?"

Kyp gave her a lopsided grin and Miko placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Of course. It is our oath." They replied in unison, glancing at each other as they spoke. Each saw the competition that sparked in the other's eyes, though neither wanted to acknowledge it. Miko smiled at Kyp and the Jedi Master fought to fix a mirroring expression onto his own face.

"Come on." Kyp said, breaking the silence that had fallen between them. He clipped his lightsabre back onto his belt. "Let's get her to the nearest med-bay."

Kyp forced himself to turn away as Miko offered a supporting shoulder for Cam to cling to and curled his arm about her waist.

"Thanks." She replied and Kyp could hear the blush in her voice, her shy gratitude focused entirely on Miko as he took her weight on his shoulders.

"No problem!"

_She's attracted to him! _The cold voice returned, seeping into his thoughts like a mist. _If you don't do something and do it fast he'll steal her out from under your nose!_

Kyp gritted his teeth and again pushed the voice from his mind, instead concerning himself with locating the nearest med-bay fast and keeping several feet ahead of Cam and Miko who was still comforting her quietly.

-ooooo-

Poor ol' Kyp! Aren't I mean to him?! Hope you liked it as much as i enjoyed writing it!


	4. Chapter 4: Getting to Know You

Chapter 4: Getting to Know You.

Miko watched in dismay as Kyp stormed ahead. He wasn't sure what had set his Master off and into such a foul mood but Kyp was agitated. Miko could see it in the Rogue Jedi's movements. In the deliberate way his heels touched the ground first and then the rest of his booted foot would snap down to the ground after it. He could even sense the displeasure tingling through their force bond which Kyp had, for the moment, cut down to minimal contact.

"Thanks." Cam said suddenly, causing Miko to tear his gaze from his Master's retreating back. "Thanks for what you said back in the hangar. For what you did…" she paused and stared at her feet as she continued to limp along with Miko's continued assistance. "I would've died there if you hadn't intervened."

Miko smiled at her and shook his dark brown haired head. "He would have kept you alive. He needs you alive." He replied, though the comment was not meant to nor did it comfort her. It simply was a fact. Cam finally nodded in acceptance of his words.

"Alright, thanks for stopping me from going after him. If I had gone I would be on my way back to Nal Hutta and my old owner. At least with me free I have a chance to rescue my family, despite that chance's slimness."

Miko's head snapped up at her words. "You're a slave?!"

Cam gave an emotionless nod. "I was a dancing girl for Droga the Hutt for many years. _Too_ many years! I was born there."

"I've heard of Droga and his dealings." Miko commented with distaste.

Cam nodded again and flashed Miko a galaxy-weary smile. "Who hasn't? He follows in the footsteps, or should I say slug-trail, of his cousin, Jabba." She replied with a snort of bitter amusement. "I fear that my family and friends will be tortured for what they did to him. I just hope my father has sense enough not to enrage him for Droga will not hesitate to kill him before he has us all together, if he is vexed."

Miko tightened his grip about her waist in comfort. "What did they do that caused Droga to put such a bounty on your heads?" he inquired and Cam shook her head. "Its okay if you don't want to talk about it. I didn't mean to pry!" he added hastily and Cam gave a genuine smile.

"No, it's just a very long story that I'm too weary to recount right now."

Miko nodded his head in respect for her wishes and turned back to face forwards. He knew that Cam wanted to relieve herself of the burden of her past by telling someone but he would respect her wishes and wait until she was ready to speak to him.

"I'm sure they'll be fine." He said after a long pause and then quickly corrected his patronising comment. "By 'fine' I mean 'alive' for when you rescue them." His eyes shifted nervously to Cam's face but she didn't seem offended by his comment. Instead she grinned and then chuckled lightly at the young Jedi's expense.

Miko blushed slightly and joined the soft laughter though the way the muscles in Kyp's shoulders tensed at the sound didn't escape his view.

"Thank you again…what's your name?" Cam prompted with a slight giggle and he turned and told her, suddenly very aware of his Master's scrutiny. "Thank you, Miko," she grinned and then became suddenly serious. "For making me laugh when all I really feel like doing is crying."

Miko soothed her again and managed to take a few more steps before she sobbed aloud and her legs went from underneath her. Miko set her down carefully and then yelled to Kyp who had continued to stride ahead in a universe all of his own.

Kyp was beside them in a matter of nanoseconds and glancing over the scene before him. He crouched down low beside the female smuggler and Miko watched slightly perturbed when the older man took her hands in his.

"She's gone into shock! We need to get her to the med-bay now!"

-ooooo-

Blinding light was the only thing that told Cam that she was awake.

'Wait! I've been unconscious?' she thought opening her eyes and then clamping them shut yet again as the light stabbed at them for a second time. She rubbed them frantically and blinked a number of times before she could manage to squint them open.

"I'll dim the lights." A voice announced causing Cam's head to turn in it's owner's direction.

The lights dimmed by forty percent and she was finally able to take in her surroundings.

A simple med room. Really more of a place used to store med equipment.

Cam groaned and pulled herself to sit upright on the small bunk that she was lying on, fiery pains in her stomach muscles protested at the sudden strain after the beating she had received from the Bounty Hunter. Her wounds had been cleaned and the more serious one on her right shoulder had been covered with a bacta patch. She fingered it thoughtfully, wincing when she found it tender still.

"What happened?" she queried turning back to the voice's owner.

Kyp Durron gave her a small smile and moved to sit beside her, brushing his shoulder length black hair from his eyes. He began to remove the dressing on her right shoulder as he spoke softly.

"A few blocks away from the hangar you went into shock." He paused, gently pressing the irritated looking scar-skin causing her to cringe again slightly in pain. "You had lost a considerable amount of blood and had suffered a severe trauma."

Kyp shifted slightly to retrieve a new bacta patch from a nearby open medkit but Cam placed a hand atop his causing him to stop and look at her, though she was unaware of the tingle her touch sent up his spine.

"Leave it." She said quietly, a grim expression on her bruised yet pretty face.

"It'll scar." He warned. "Bacta can stop that if-"

"No." she cut him off gently and lifted her hand from his to brush the three parallel scars the traversed her shoulder. "It'll serve as a reminder." She paused again, her eyes flickering from Kyp's face to the wall opposite. "It'll keep me going. Make me strive harder to get them back!"

Kyp nodded in understanding and ceased his ministrations, turning his gaze also to the opposed wall. It was off-white in colour with grubby hand marks mid way up it and a damp patch darkening a ceiling corner.

The silence was slightly awkward though not unbearably so and it was a long, drawn out moment before either spoke. It was Cam's voice that first assaulted the quiet.

"Where is Miko?" she asked and the slightly stung look that passed over Kyp's striking features was not missed by her keen gaze. He smothered it quickly, however, and kept his steady stare on the murky wall that faced them.

"He 'forgot' his lightsabre." He replied evenly. "He's on his way back to the hangar to retrieve it."

Cam nodded, trying to seem only politely interested but as Kyp smirked and glanced at her she began to wonder if he had heard her thoughts about Miko.

"He handled the situation back there pretty well." He stated, clearing his throat. "Miko is more of a…_people_ person than I am." He risked a glance at her from the corner of his eye and saw the small grin that lit her face.

"And what type of person are _you_, Kyp Durron?" her voice was low and semi-teasing as Kyp turned to regard her fully, attempting to keep the smile from his own lips as he replied.

"I let my lightsabre do the talking." He patted the cylindrical, silver hilt at his side and Cam's night blue eyes flicked briefly from his face down to his waist.

"Ah!" she replied knowingly, allowing her eyes to travel slowly back up to his. She pulled her legs up onto the bunk and crossed them as if she was a small child waiting for a story, leaning her elbows on her knees and crossing her arms loosely. "Your typical tall, dark, handsome stranger who rides in on his swoop bike to save the damsel in distress!"

Kyp arched a dark eyebrow at her amused smirk. "Handsome?"

It was simply a statement. One that he had said in jest. One that he had expected to prompt a laugh not a shy downwards glance and a rising flush on her cheeks. He watched closely as Cam fidgeted with her braided hair and avoided his emerald gaze.

Abruptly she switched the conversation direction.

"Twice you've saved me. Twice in one night."

"Once." Kyp corrected glancing back at the wall, a plummeting feeling in his stomach. "Miko rescued you the second time."

"By saying 'you' I meant the Jedi in general." She replied, her voice and expression both unreadable.

"Oh." Kyp replied feeling a flush creep up his own cheeks. It was his turn to shift nervously.

Was she testing him in some bizarre way?

Kyp's silent query went unanswered and the pair fell into a long silence that neither knew how to break. Kyp's mind swirled in confusion. Never before had the Force been so unclear or his convictions so sorely tried. She was a slave trader. A smuggler who thrived on shipping helpless innocents to scum-filled worlds where they would, most likely, be worked to death. She was one of them. The enemy. The beings who had sold his family into slavery. The ones that he had sworn to eradicate from the galaxy…and yet…he couldn't bring himself to feel hatred for her. He turned his head slightly to gaze at her, sitting beside him, her back hunched from weariness and her mental shields down completely. Her face was tired and the fierce, confident young woman that had been Camilly Freelancer suddenly turned into a frightened girl, barely out of her teens and unexpectedly alone. All of her front and ferocious façade had melted away…or was this sudden vulnerability, this helplessness a concealment of her true persona? Kyp's mind mulled over the thought as it sparked into existence. Perhaps she simply wished to gain his trust and ship him back into slavery, for Jedi prisoners were in great exigency, especially among the Hutts since Princess Leia had slaughtered the illustrious Jabba.

Cam must have sensed Kyp's eyes on her for her night blue stare unexpectedly turned and met with his.

"What?" she asked dragging Kyp from his contemplations. "Do I have a holo on my head?"

Kyp almost smirked at her characteristic sarcasm but stifled it before it could break out. Instead he shook his head.

"Just thinking." He replied and Cam gave a small nod of acceptance.

Suddenly, impulse struck and before Kyp realised, words were rolling from his tongue. He had never before had the opportunity to get 'inside' the head of the 'enemy' and he was curious to know what cold, dispassionate mind was required to sell someone's life.

"What of your father's business, Cam? How can you live doing what you do? Isn't the slave trade unjust?" he shook his head "I don't know how you live with yourself! How can you stomach the knowledge that you have sentenced hundreds, maybe even thousands of beings to an early grave!" he paused watching Cam's reaction carefully but she simply looked straight back at him. No shame on her face, no remorse behind those deep sapphire pools. Instead her gaze seemed almost inquisitive and Kyp faltered, debating whether he should continue. He cleared his throat and glanced away from her eyes and to the mucky wall that was becoming quite a focal point. "I was sold into slavery as a child and spent most of my childhood in the mines of Kessel. You grow up fast in slavery. I lost my innocence long before I should have!"

He felt Cam shift her weight forwards slightly and he thought that she was pulling away from him in anger but she simply adjusted her legs beneath her and leaned back against the wall. When she spoke her voice was full of emotion and caught in her throat at the end of each sentence.

"Do not talk of things you know little of, Jedi." She said softly and icily, the friendship that had been growing between them since Kyp had saved her life suddenly dissipating like a mist in the heat of the sun.

Kyp's laugh was harsh and mocking. "Things that I know little of?!" he snorted. "Let me tell you, Freelancer, that I know a lot more than you think!" he snorted again. "Your kind disgust me! I should have let that bounty Hunter take you!"

The silence that fell was absolute and Kyp felt the barely controlled fury that emanated from the slight body beside him. Quietly, and in clipped tones she began to speak.

"Let me tell you about my family, Kyp Durron. Let me tell you how my mother was stolen away from my father and brother while she carried me. Let me tell you how she was sold to a repulsive old Hutt named Droga who forced her into his ranks of many dancing girls. How she gave me birth in the squalor of his palace dungeons where they were kept, how she died on my tenth birthday because she would not let Droga have me as a dancing girl. Little matter. Let me tell you how I was forced to become his dancing girl anyway. How I met my dear Tolou the Twi'lek, how she cared for me and never let any of Droga's '_customers'_ touch me. How then hope was restored to me when my father bought me out of slavery. How I had to watch his devastated face when I told him how my mother had died. How I travelled the galaxy with him killing those who had sealed my mother's and my fate. How then we flew under the pretence of being slave traders in order to ambush the shipments of slaves and take them to far away worlds where they could work themselves out of poverty. How we have helped thousands of slaves make lives and families for themselves!" she shook her head lightly and moved so that she knelt facing Kyp. "You say you lost your childhood and innocence in slavery." Her eyes flashed like force lightening. "So! Did! I!" She paused searching his face with her eyes. Anguish and anger shone as they filled with tears, their night blue so fierce that Kyp was speechless.

"Let me tell you how that when go to Nal Hutta to rescue my family that I will gut Droga, the true culprit of the slave trade, like an oversized slug!" she stared hard at Kyp, rage clear in her features and Kyp could only gaze back in cold shock.

Cam snorted, much in the way that Kyp had previously, pushed herself off the medcot as if all she desired in the universe was to be as far away from Kyp Durron as possible. Her sudden contempt for him was barely disguised.

"I…I'm sorry-" Kyp began but Cam raised her hand in a sharp slicing motion.

"Like I said, Durron, don't talk of things you know little of!"

-ooooo-


	5. Chapter 5: Adding Insult to Injury

Next chapter, yay! Thankies to Darth Riven for reviewing! Oh, and i made some minor changes to chapter 1 and 2, just changed a few incontinuities.

Chapter 5: Adding Insult to Injury.

"You know, trying to remember where I chucked my lightsabre was really-" Miko stopped mid-sentence, glancing up from the silver and black hilt in his palm and at the scene before him.

Camilly Freelancer's eyes were clouded by rage and her cheeks were flushed pink with fury as she was stalking towards the door he had just come through. Kyp's face was similarly furious as his eyes bored into the back of her retreating head.

"Am I interrupting something?" Miko asked in a low, wary tone as his gaze flickered from his Master's incensed features to Cam who almost shook with her ire. Kyp's eyes continued to stare at Cam who stopped beside Miko and folded her arms over her chest, ignoring Kyp pointedly.

"Nothing!" Kyp bit out a little too harshly and Miko winced and glanced instead at Cam for enlightenment.

"Oh really?" Miko pushed, cocking an eyebrow as she visibly ground her teeth and glared at him.

"Oh yes! It's nothing really! Just your _companion _here is a laser-brained, Hutt-spawned, Rancor-dung-eating Hootmian!" Cam yelled, waving her arms in furious illustration of how angry she was. Kyp bristled at the long list of insults that she reeled off without so much as a momentary look in his direction and stood folding his own arms across his chest with fists clenched.

"Well as long as we're trading insults!" he replied with a cocky half grin. "You're the one who took offence you freeloading, self-righteous little harlot!"

Miko stared at his Master in horror, expecting Cam to react to the derogatory comment but instead she simply gave a mirthless laugh and fisted her hands on her hips.

"Please, Sparky? Is that the best you could come up with?! Like I've never heard an insult like that before!" she sneered tossing her head back and barking with laughter again. Kyp's mocking smirk returned and he gave a blasé shrug, letting his eyes rake over her briefly attired body.

"I'm not competing against you to see who can come up with the best insults…I simply call 'em as I see 'em!" a look of deep satisfaction came over Kyp's face as Cam's eyes flashed dangerously in his direction.

"Bite me, you gob of Hutt slime!" she snarled lunging for him but before her hands could find their mark around the ebony haired man's throat, Miko caught her in his grasp and struggled to keep her under control.

"Alright, _children_, calm down!" Miko growled managing to force his body between that of Cam and Kyp and restore a certain degree of order to the situation. "What happened to get you two at each other's throats like a pair of Tusk Cats?" he fixed his gaze upon Kyp, silently questioning him through the Force at the same time but Kyp either didn't notice or chose not to reply. His ardent emerald stare was focused back on Cam and Miko groaned aloud as the pair began their delirious ranting again. He clamped his hands over his ears and rolled his soft brown eyes to the damp ceiling.

"Force, give me strength!" he muttered through clenched teeth, his own irritation beginning to swell in his chest. "LOOK!" he yelled and the squabbling couple stared at him as his voice bounced around the box-like room. "You two are going to have to be civil to each other! I can't cope if you're going to be arguing all the way to Nal Hutta and back!"

Kyp placed his fists at his slim hips and cocked a dark eyebrow at his apprentice. "Who said we're going to Nal Hutta?!" he demanded brazenly and Miko gave him a confused frown.

"We've got to help Cam get her family back! We've got to stop Droga or innocent people are going to be killed and that will continue as long as he is free!" Miko's confusion only grew at the dispassionate look on the older man's face. "Kyp?"

Kyp turned his back to Miko and raised his gaze to the mould covered ceiling, running a hand through his shadowy hair. Realisation hit Miko through the Force like a physical blow to the chest and he let his breath out in a great blast of air. Kyp meant not to help Freelancer! Something was bothering the Jedi Master, bothering him so badly that he was willing to let Cam go to Nal Hutta and risk capture and death all alone.

"So, you're just going to let this injustice go?!" Miko asked, incredulously and he sensed Kyp clench his teeth.

"It wasn't on the schedule." He replied quietly and Miko sensed the turmoil within him as strong as it had been in the hangar. He paused for a moment before stepping forwards and placing a hand on Kyp's shoulder and leading him away from Cam to the opposite side of the med-room.

"Kyp, we are Jedi." He stated calmly in a low tone so that Cam couldn't hear. "It is our job to put others before ourselves. Whatever is bugging you-" Kyp attempted to interrupt at that point but Miko continued. "What_ever_ it is that is clouding your judgement, ignore it, get rid of it, deal with it, do _something_ with it!" he gave Kyp a sympathetic smile and couldn't help chuckling at their role-reversal, for Kyp was usually the one doing the lecturing, being a Jedi Master. He stood up straight and removed his hand from his friend's shoulder. "Now, are we going to go and do our job and help this girl?" he questioned a little louder and bringing Cam back into the conversation.

Kyp glanced at Cam who gazed hopefully back at Miko and was not unaware of the wink his apprentice sent her, causing her to blush and look to Kyp. Kyp felt the growl bubble from his throat before he could stop it and jabbed a finger in Cam's direction causing her night blue eyes to turn cold again.

"Just don't think that this is all about you! We're doing this to stop the slave trade, got it?!" he bit out, gruffly and silently cursed himself. Why did he have to be so severe when all he truly wanted was to be friends?

_But you don't just want to be her friend, do you? _His icy thoughts observed, and he almost rolled his eyes in exasperation. _If you are honest with yourself you'll know that the reason you act so harshly towards her is because you want her and she doesn't reciprocate those feelings! _Kyp shook his head to rid those thoughts from his mind and looked back at Cam's angry face.

"If you're going to be like that then I don't _want_ or _need_ your help, _Jedi_!" she scathed.

"Come on!" Miko injected, with a tired and impatient sigh. "I thought we got past all this?!" he gave Kyp a meaningful glare and then turned to Cam soothingly. "We all have reasons for going to Nal Hutta. We all have similar missions. Cam, you want to save your family and Kyp and I want to end slavery. It only makes sense for us to work together."

Both fiery tempered arguers fell silent and nodded at his words.

"However," Miko continued. "there is no point in going at all if you two kill each other before we even get off world!" he paused again taking a deep steadying breath an fixing each with a beseeching, brown-eyed, persuasive look. "Please, please, _please _agree to be civil to each other, for my sanity's sake at least?!"

Cam looked from Miko to Kyp's intense emerald eyes in silence, her lips pursed as if she were considering Miko's request carefully. Finally she tossed her many dusty blond plaits and folded her arms in an attempt at indifference.

"Fine!" she said in a light voice filled with disinterest.

"Fine!" Kyp echoed her statement and tone, turning his eyes to the damp wall.

"Finally!" Miko gasped with exasperated relief. It was certainly going to be an…_eventful_ mission!

-ooooo-

Calleth Freelancer struggled with his bonds again. Though he knew that it was ultimately pointless, he needed to do _something_, he needed to keep his minds busy and away from imaginings of their fate when they touched down on Nal Hutta.

"Cal…" the silvery voice of the pale green Twi'lek spoke in muted tones beside him. "Cam got away. At least she is safe…" she fell silent again, staring at their companions who were still unconscious from the drugs their captor had forced on them.

Cal shook his flaxen blond head and clenched his fists as much as was possible in his vibrocuffs without getting shocked.

"Tolou." he muttered, turning his dark stare to Tolou's deep green one. "Do you _really_ think that my sister is going to just let all this lie?!" he shook his head and stared down at the metallic ground. "No. It's not in Cam's nature to just roll over and yield and that _creature_ knows it!" he spat indicating in the direction of the cockpit where their guard no-doubt sat grinning to himself in triumph. He sighed deeply and shook his hair from his eyes with a toss of his head. "She'll come for us…I know it! She's too much like Dad not to come! And when she does, Droga will kill us all!"

Tolou reached out her bound hands and placed them, comfortingly on Cal's arm causing him to look up at her. Her bright green eyes showed confidence, where all he felt was hopelessness.

"Cam may be young and headstrong, but don't count her among the stupid, Cal." She replied softly. "She has a good head on her shoulders and more fight in her than a cornered Nexu." She turned and leant her back against the ships hull and gave a grin that almost convinced Calleth himself. "She won't go down as easily as we did when we were taken unawares, reassure yourself with that." She suddenly became serious and grim, and spoke with quiet fury. "You do not know what Droga put us through those years we were in his possession. That alone will spur her to succeed."

Cal nodded at the Twi'lek's words and felt, for the first time since their capture, a sliver of hope seep into his heart.

-ooooo-


End file.
